The Greatest of Journeys
by TheIdiocyWizard
Summary: Shepard enlists the help of an alien unlike any other, and the Arbiter must determine if his vow to help defend Humanity extends to Humans in other galaxies. Meanwhile, a larger threat is brooding on the horizon, unflinching in its goal for galactic extermination. Set during ME2.
1. Chapter 1

"I need you to investigate something for me." the Illusive man said coldly as soon as Shepard answered his call. Shepard growled internally at the mans arrogance, making sure that his feelings were well hidden from the Cerberus lead. Shepard hated having to show the man any courtesy but, even if he were loathe to admit it, he knew that he needed the man. Or rather they needed each other, which was the only reason they had developed a working relationship in the first place. That and because Cerberus had saved the Commander's life, but Shepard didn't like thinking about that. The thought that he had actually died at one point had never sat well with him, and he imagined it never would. A surprise attack on the _Normandy_ had left his ship destroyed and the Commader stuck out in open space. It didn't end well, and the fact that there was anything left of him to recover at all was a miracle in it's own right. Cerberus had spent a fortune to bring him back and, from what he could tell, it took everything they knew about modern medicine to even make the project feasable. In the end, they still had to resort to giving him implants just to complete the process. The Commander shuddered just barely at the thought of it all. The less he thought about it the better.

"Perhaps you could give me some of the details before I make a decision." _And maybe you could kiss my ass_, he wanted to say, but he bit his tongue. Mouthing off like that never did anything to help his mood before, and the Illusive man always just ignored him as if he were a particularly annoying child. Better to just get the conversation over with as soon as possible.

The Illusive man didn't respond at first, instead sitting qiuetly while tapping away at a haptic interface in front of him. Shepard could see what he was trying to do, and he wasn't going to play that game with him. Instead he stood even straighter, stiffening his back and standing stock still, not showing an ounce of his growing impatience. Eventually the Illusive man found whatever he was looking for-or perhaps just got bored of trying to get a rise out of the Commander-and brought his attention back up to Shepard. Taking one last, long drag from a cigarette in his right hand, just to delay even further, he finally gave the Commander what he wanted.

"About twelve hours ago there occurred a gravitational and radio-logical disturbance over the planet of Lindofar, an unassuming and out-of-the-way planet that consists mostly of desert and only serves as a small Eclipse base." he said, smoke billowing out of him as he spoke. Briefly Shepard mused that he almost looked like a dragon, the red star behind him and his piercing blue eyes serving as great intimidators on lesser men. But that wasn't important right now, what he needed to focus on now was what the Illusive man was telling him, as the Cerberus lead continued on without waiting for a response.

"The anomaly was only there for a few seconds, and then it promptly disappeared as quickly as it came." He raised the cigarette to his lips once more and inhaled, eyeing the Commander. Shepard merely waited as well, and they both sat in silence. It was a small battle of wills to see who would lose their patience first, Shepard standing stock-still and staring straight ahead while the Illusive man poured himself a glass of bourbon, the bottle and glass provided for him from an assistant, who slipped in and out of the Quantum Entanglement feed as quick and quietly as she could. Eventually Shepard lost his patience, knowing that he was only wasting his own time.

"And?" he said with an irritated edge. He saw the Illusive man smirk for only the briefest of seconds before his face morphed into a stoic wall once more.

"And..." the Illusive man paused to take a sip of his bourbon, and as a subtle way to brag about his small victory Shepard was sure, "they found something."

That piqued Shepard's interest, and he quirked an eyebrow, but that was as far as he would go to show his interest. Thankfully this time the Illusive man continued without challenging Shepard to another duel.

"My sources within Eclipse tell me that a ship came out of the anomaly and then crashed on Lindofar." he said nonchalantly, following the statement with a short drag from his cigarette. Externally Shepard appeared calm and controlled, but internally his mind exploded into a whirlwind of questions. _How is that possible? What kind of ship? Where did it come from? Whose ship was it? _So many questions sped by his mind that he found it difficult to even register them all, but soon he found one that seemed the most pertinent at the moment.

"How do you know this information is accurate?" The Illusive man smirked again and Shepard realized he must have walked into some kind of trap in the contest that had developed between he and the Illusive man. Without saying a word the Cerberus lead pressed a button and a video began playing next to him for Shepard to see. From what he could tell the person taking the video was in a shuttle flying circles over the subject of the video, that subject being what could only be described as a very peculiar ship.

Surrounded on all sides by the brown colors that were often found in a desert, the ship's black coloring contrasted was visible for miles. That being said, it was a very dull, almost gray black that looked slightly metallic. The ship itself was comprised mostly of boxes and hard edges, an angular design that was reminiscent of Turian ship design. Still, this craft was markedly different from anything he had ever seen before. But even that thought couldn't prepare him for what he saw next, for as the shuttle swooped around the fallen craft, shepards eyes widened in shock.

It was clear that the ship had taken some damage, which was a bit of an understatement as seemingly half of it had been cleaved off, but that wasn't what had Shepard so dumbfounded. Instead what Shepard was focusing on was the lettering in white paint on the side of the ship. Even though the paint was chipped and faded he could read the text it made because it was written in perfect English. _Forward Unto Dawn_.

"It's a human ship?" he asked aloud when the video ended, not caring to hide his confusion anymore. The revelation that a ship had come from the anomaly was one thing, but the fact that it very well could be a human ship was unbelievable. Shepard knew it wasn't from the Alliance, and he would have assumed it was a Cerberus ship had he not seriously doubted that the Illusive man would tell him about it if it were. Still, he had to ask.

"It's not one of yours?" The Cerberus lead scoffed at the notion, replying, "I would not have brought this to your attention if it were." Shepard nodded. He knew where they stood and he was all the more happy for it. Still, he was now fully interested in investigating this ship, and he was eager to get started.

"Send me the coordinates, I'll check it out as soon as I can."

"Good" the Illusive man said as he took a sip of his bourbon, the ice clinking against each other in the glass. "I'll send you any other relevant data. Good luck." he added before promptly ending the call. Shepard blinked for a moment as his eyes got used to seeing reality again instead of the pitch black office of the Illusive man. He still had yet to get used to the transition and, with a little luck, he never would get the chance to.

"EDI, tell Joker to get us to the coordinates the Illusive man is sending us immediately, and call the squad to the conference room." he said into the air, as the ships AI could hear him anywhere. "Affirmative, Commander Shepard." it droned in response, and Shepard nodded as he prepared to brief his squad about the new mission.

* * *

><p>It hadn't taken the <em>Normandy <em>long to get to Lindofar, as they were closer to the planet than Shepard originally thought. That being said, it didn't mean that he was happy to be on the desert planet. It was hot, which was a lot like saying that thresher maws were dangerous or that the Reapers were mean. It was a gigantic understatement, in other words, as the sweltering heat made him want to strip off his armor. Doing that would most likely result in him getting a killer sunburn or, more likely, getting killed from all the gunfire going off around him. A stray bullet slamming into his cover proved his point and made him think twice about popping out for another shot.

"Zaeed, burn 'em!" he shouted, the grizzled old merc smiling as he pulled out an inferno grenade. The large scar that covered half of his face and ruined one eye made him look like a monster out of a horror vid as he primes the grenade. Shepard had some concerns about using such a thing inside the ruins of the crashed ship, but his desire to not get plugged full of holes overruled that concern. Zaeed popped out of cover just long enough to throw the grenade into the enemy position and smiled once more as it went off, consuming the Eclipse mercenaries in a wave of flames. Shepard signaled the squad to move up and take their position, and they all arrived to find that that was the last of them. For now, anyway.

"Good work, team. Let's keep moving." All nodding they trudged on behind him, taking care to avoid the burnt corpses as they moved further into the mysterious ship.

They had originally landed outside of the shipwreck, mildly interested in the sight of a crashed shuttle nearby, and were immediately attacked by a squad of Eclipse mercenaries that were guarding the ships perimeter. Shepard wasn't worried about the Eclipse at all, and everyone else seemed to feel the same way. The Eclipse were just a nuisance, a distraction that was in the way of their discovering the truth behind the ship. But the Eclipse weren't the only ones they needed to worry about because, according to what Cerberus could gather, there was at least one survivor, and they were making life difficult for the mercenaries.

Most concerning of all, they weren't human.

Cerberus hadn't been able to determine what species the survivor was, mostly because Eclipse hadn't been able to determine that either. Shepard just scowled at it all. Here they were in a ship that didn't match any known designs, with every indication that it was a human ship, and the lone survivor was an alien. It was maddening, to say the least.

"Life's never dull with you, Shepard, is it?" Garrus asked behind him as if reading his thoughts, and Shepard scoffed. He turned to look at the Turian who was grinning like an idiot behind his damaged armor. He had come dangerously close to biting the bullet, but the Turian had toughed out his injuries and recovered faster than anyone had ever expected him to.

"Well, I do like to be where the action is." he replied jovially as he lead the squad through the ruined corridors of the ship. It was cramped and tight, leaving little room for maneuverability, but there was plenty of cover to hide behind when the bullets started flying.

"Thought work with STG was dangerous. Have realized how tame it was, compared to work with you, Shepard." Mordin said, adding to the conversation. For a Salarian he looked just as grizzled and deadly as Zaeed, his missing cranial horn almost as worthy a scar as the one adorning the old human mercenary's face. Speaking of the mercenary, Zaeed crinkled his brow and scoffed.

"You want danger? Try going through a goddam docked Batarian cruiser with nothin' but a pistol and a pack of adrenalin stims. Fun like you wouldn't believe." he added sarcastically, and everyone else just rolled their eyes. Everyone had already heard about some of Zaeed's exploits by now and, while a lot of them were indeed impressive, he just always felt the need to one-up everybody. He was still good to have around in a fight, though.

"Alright, cut the chatter." Shepard said, reigning in everyone's focus. "We're nearing the bridge, and there's bound to be Eclipse there. Stay sharp."

No sooner had he said that than they all turned a corner and all of a sudden heard a hail of gunfire and panicked voices. After jumping into cover, they quickly realized that the gunfire was not meant for them but for something else up ahead. They listened quietly as the battle raged on, presumably in the bridge.

"Where the hell is he?"

"Fuck, is he invisible?"

"What the fuck is that? It's glowing!"

"Gah, my arm!"

The last voice ended in a cry of anguish before being immediately silenced. Shepard and his squad continued to listen to the firefight intently, trying to figure out what could possibly be happening. Then they heard another voice that was immediately followed by the hollow pounding of boots against metal, and it was coming there way.

"It's no use, fall back and regroup!"

Shepard signaled for everyone to get ready, and soon enough a group of ten Eclipse mercenaries were speeding down the halls towards them, oblivious to the danger ahead as they desperately tried to get away from the danger behind them. Without saying a word Shepard opened fire on them with his assault rifle, the others following suit immediately after. The report of gunfire echoed off the walls, mingling with the death throes of the mercenaries as half of them were gunned down outright. The other half quickly joined their comrades as they swallowed up by another of Zaeed's inferno grenades.

A deafening silence fell over the ship, as Shepard and his squad watched the corridor ahead, waiting for whatever was chasing the Eclipse to come after them, but it never did. Instead all the dust that had been collected on the ship, which had been thrown around violently due to the fight, lazily drifted back into place. After another moment the silence was broken by a low chuckle coming from Zaeed. The other three members of the squad turned to quirk their eyebrows at him, and he merely shrugged.

"That was goddam hilarious."

Shepard just chuffed and motioned for them to continue onward. Cautiously they moved their way through the last few feet of the cramped hallways and entered a large room filled with chairs and broken terminals of all shapes and sizes.

"This must be it. Stay frosty." Shepard said.

Wordlessly they stalked through every inch of the room, checking every nook and cranny for survivors. They highly doubted there would be any Eclipse left, judging by the amount of bodies littered across the floor, but they couldn't find any sign of the lone survivor of the ship. Besides the bodies there were peices of broken glass and wiring everywhere, and a few pieces of equipment that the mercs had brought with them, such as tablets and data spikes. After a few moments of finding no one but the dead, the room was called clear and the squad reconvened in the center of the room.

"State of these bodies is...concerning." Mordin said with a deep intake of air. No one could argue with that as they looked about the room once more to survey the carnage. Some of the mercenaries looked to have been chopped in half, others had whole limbs removed. The most peculiar thing though, besides the fact that someone appeared to be using a sword of some kind, was that the wounds were all cauterized. Not a drop of blood was in sight, and besides the general disarray that comes from being on a crashed ship, it would have been a relatively easy killing spree to clean up. Even the mercs that hadn't been slashed into didn't look much better, though, for their armor and any uncovered skin looked melted and burnt. Neither Shepard nor any of his squad had seen anything like this before, and even Zaeed looked befuddled.

"What kind of weapons could do this sort of damage?" Garrus asked aloud as his mandibles twitched in curiosity. The answer he got didn't please him.

"Cauterized wounds and general melting of target areas suggests a medium of very high temperature. Fire? No, fire couldn't match the precision of these wounds, severely limits options. Only possibility is not possible. Curious." Mordin rattled off like he always did whenever he was on to something, and the others let him. He was likely the smartest out of the four of them, anyway. But what he said didn;t make sense, and Shepard needed him to clarify.

"What do you mean?" he asked, and was a little unnerved by the mixed expression of horror and scientific curiosity that appeared on Mordin's face.

"Plasma, or perhaps some sort of laser." he said simply, and Shepard stood there dumbstruck for a moment. Plasma weaponry had pretty much been written off by most species of the galaxy as impossible or too costly. The only race that had made anything close were the Geth, but even then they didn't have true plasma firing weapons. Judging by the expressions on both Garrus' and Zaeed's faces, they could hardly believe it either. But none of them were willing to debate about it, as they had no clue as to what else could have caused this sort of damage. Shepard furrowed his brow at the situation. With each new discovery on this ship they only got more questions. It was imperative that they find this survivor, but they were nowhere to be found.

"Well shit." Zaeed said bluntly, earning a nod from Garrus. "At least the bridge is secured, for now." the old mercenary added.

"Were it so easy." a new voice said, and all hell broke loose.

Shepard saw a shimmer in the air, but before he could warn anyone about it it tackled Garrus and sent him sprawling to the ground. Next he saw it shift in Zaeed's direction which resulted in the old mercenary flying through the air behind him with an 'oof', the air rushing from his lungs. Shepard reacted on instinct and fired point blank into the shape, his rounds crashing against the outline of a towering form wreathed in a glowing barrier, what Shepard learned too late to be a shield. Before he could do anything else the shape lashed out at him and smacked his gun to the side while he was then kicked away in much the same fashion as Zaeed. Recovering as quickly as possible, Shepard launched himself to his feet and whipped out his pistol, only to find that the form had subdued Mordin and was using him as a sort of meat shield. Garrus and Zaeed had recovered by then as well and were doing their best to get a good angle on their new foe, but they were making good use out of Mordin as a shield.

Every muscle in Shepard's body tensed at that moment as the shape grabbed Mordin's good horn, lifted his head high and ignited...well, Shepard didn't know what the hell it was. It looked like a two-pronged sword, but it was made of light, or perhaps pure energy. The shape moved the object to Mordin's neck, but didn't finish the move, simply holding the sword in place dangerously close to Mordin's neck. The Salarian looked odlly calm, seemingly resigned to the fact that he couldn't do anything at the moment.

What happened next was what Shepard would have described as akin to an old western standoff. No one said or did anything as Shepard and the free members of his squad all aimed their weapons at the shimmering shape holding Mordin hostage. The invisible shape in return did nothing but hold the sword precariously close to the Salarian's windpipe. Time seemed to crawl as they all stood as still as statues. Eventually the shape decided to speak first.

"You do not appear to be with these Eclipse mercenaries, which is the only reason you are not dead." it said, its cold voice low and deadly. If Shepard was correct in his assumption, the voice belonged to a male. He was also mildly surprised that the shape was speaking perfect English, but that wasn't important right now, for the shape spoke again slowly, as if talking to a child who was being reprimanded. "But I will not hesitate to kill you the next time I strike, should you force me to act."

The message was clear: lower your weapons or die. Shepard had half a mind to keep his weapon up, but one look at the carnage filling the room told him that this shape, whoever he was, wasn't bluffing. Plus, while he might gamble with his own life on the line, he wouldn't do it with one of his squad mates. Shepard slowly lowered his pistol and gave Garrus and Zaeed a nod that told them to do the same. Hesitantly, they followed his order. While he was no longer aiming his weapon at the shape, he didn't holster it either, keeping it in his hands but aimed at the floor. The shape was seemingly fine with this, as it spoke again a second later.

"Now speak, Human. Who are you?"

Shepard took a deep breath and spoke as calmly as if he were giving a speech to a class of students.

"I'm Commander Shepard, and these are my squad mates Zaeed Massani, Garrus Vakarian and...Mordin Solus." he said while indicating each one respectfully, gesturing awkwardly to the Salarian in the invisible shape's grasp. "We came here to investigate your ship, and to help any survivors." he added as a way to try to placate the shape. He couldn't tell if it worked until the shape suddenly faded into being a revealed itself to be an alien. Shepards eyes widened in shock as he learned that this was an alien of a species he had never seen before.

It towered over the Salarian in its arms, standing taller than even a Krogan. It looked odlly Turian, but mostly in the way it held itself with the same rigid, military discipline that most Turians did. It was clear to Shepard that this alien was a soldier, not just by its demeanor but by the armor it wore, which looked highly advanced but ancient and ceremonial at the same time. Its blue skin was rippling with tension due to the muscles underneath, and Shepard looked into the golden yellow eyes of this alien, the eyes of a killer if ever he saw one, he knew this was not an alien to be trifled with. As it spoke again, Shepard was amazed that its four mandibles could form the words it was saying with little difficulty.

"I am called the Arbiter, and this is not my ship."

* * *

><p><em>AN: Well, I've been wanting to start this one for a long time, and I feel relatively happy with how this chapter looks, but let me know what you think. Please review and all that other stuff, and thanks for reading._


	2. Chapter 2

_**A/N: I will refrain from putting author's note's here in the future, but this is an important one. If you read the first chapter before I made my revisions, you will have read that the Arbiter clearly understood something Garrus said. This was a mistake, as I foolishly forgot that the Arbiter would have to have somehow procurred a translator that understands the languages of the aliens in the Mass Effect verse. So I went back and made it so that he responded to Zaeed, and subsequently in this chapter the Arbiter will not be able to understand aliens. Anyway, I hope you like the chapter.**_

* * *

><p>Arbiter Thel'Vadum liked space travel. Knowing that there were only a few bulkheads between him and a quick and painful death brought him clarity, allowed him to think. There was something serene about space travel, in that it was just you and the great beyond that was the inky nothingness of space. This thought often floated into his mind when he stepped aboard a ship, ready for the takeoff. Not this time, however. This time he wasn't even walking aboard.<p>

The engine of the warthog roared as the vehicle sailed into the open hangar bay of the _Forward Unto Dawn_, flipping through the air and throwing its occupants out right before it crashed with a loud bang. The Arbiter jumped to his feet as he felt the Human ship lurch underneath him, and just barely had the time to jump out of the way of a loose tank before it squashed him. Taking cover behind some crates, Arbiter was worried for a moment that the other occupant of the warthog hadn't made it, but he was quickly proven wrong. A respectful nod from the Spartan whom he called comrade, and perhaps even friend, was met with the same gesture from the Arbiter, and Thel quickly dashed his way to the bridge to see if he couldn't help stabilize the ship from there.

Taking a seat in the pilots chair, the Arbiter did everything he could keep the vessel from being obliterated, but it was proving more difficult than he would have liked. Behind the _Forward Unto Dawn _the Ark was being torn apart due to the fact that the unstable Halo it was trying to build had initiated its firing sequence. The resulting explosion made it almost seem like the Ark was reaching out for them, trying to bring the ship down with it. Thel would not let that happen, but it may not be up to him.

The portal back to Earth loomed ahead, promising safety if only they make it in time before it closes. The Arbiter frantically worked the controls before him to speed the ship along, but it looked as if they wouldn't make it. Pounding the armrest of the chair in fury, Thel bellowed, "We will _not _die here, not today!"

Thel now worked twice as hard on the controls, darting his hands around so fast that they seemed to be moving of their own volition, as if they were just as concerned for their own safety as he was of his. The ship was practically falling apart around him, panels and wires exploding outward and showering sparks everywhere. The glass of the holoprojectors shattered into a million pieces, and the Arbiter briefly worried that he would in fact die in space around the Ark.

Suddenly a blinding white light smacked into him, and he lost all sensation.

* * *

><p>When he could feel and see again, what he felt and saw displeased him.<p>

Evidently they had made it through the portal, because they were no longer in the life threatening space around the Ark. Instead they were flying uncontrollably into a brown planet that Thel recognized as not Earth. Additionally the Arbiter felt like he was going to implode before he could even figure out what this planet was.

An incessant beeping by his side temporarily made him forget about the pain as he brought his attention to a terminal next to him. At first he didn't understand what it was trying to tell him. It presented a diagram of the _Forward Unto Dawn _but blotted the back half of the ship out in red. Soon enough though he read the text _Hull Integrity Compromised_. His thoughts immediately turned to his comrade stowing away in that half of the ship.

_The Spartan-_

The ship shuddered as fire blossomed around it as it entered the atmosphere of the planet, interrupting that thought and forcing Thel to dive onto the controls before him once more. He would have time to ponder what happened to the Spartan later, right now he needed to make sure nothing happened to him. His hands flew across the controls once more, but now every time he tried something the terminal just told him that that function was either malfunctioning or that the ship no longer had the required components. This lead him to only one conclusion; the ship was doomed to crash.

As the ship continued to sink, soaring through the air as if a bird of prey diving for the kill, the Arbiter resigned himself to the fact that the only thing he could do now was let the ship crash. His only hope for survival now would be to strap himself in and hope for the best. He quickly fastened the safety harness of the seat around himself with several clicks as everything locked into place. Now as secure as possible, all he could really do was wait.

The Arbiter looked out the view port as the planet rushed up to meet him. Already he could make out that it was a desert planet, clearly seeing an expansive sea of dunes. It was a very dull planet by any means, and he couldn't make out any sign of civilization in the short time he had up in the air. Thel barely had time to brace himself for impact when he was violently thrashed in his seat as the ship smacked into the planet. All around him he could hear the roar of metal being sheared off as the ship shook erratically, forcing the Arbiter to wince as the straps dug into him. After what seemed like an eternity the ship finally lurched to a stop as it buried itself into the sand. Thel took a brief moment to take stock of the situation before deftly removing the straps of the harness. His body ached all over, first from the pain that followed his exit from the portal and then from disastrous landing he had miraculously lived through, but he had to get moving. His legs cried out as they lifted him up out of his seat, and he turned around to find the bridge of the ship in chaos.

The panels and coverings that had fallen off earlier had now been thrown every which way. The electrical wires of the ship were exposed and hanging down like vines, precariously showering sparks everywhere. Shattered glass was everywhere, coating the floor with thousands of little shards. The terminals that once serviced ensigns had now all exploded, leaving them as ruined husks that looked as if to be judging him. _You Failed _they seemed to say, and he couldn't help but feel that perhaps they were right.

The Arbiter shook his head to expel that thought. He had more important things to focus on right now. Patting himself down he found that his armor seemed to be in relatively good shape, and all of his weapons were in their places, a plasma rifle on his left thigh, a plasma pistol and his energy sword on his right. He didn't know if there was any life on this planet, but he wanted to be prepared for anything. Carefully moving through the bridge as the glass crunched underneath him, Thel set about discerning whether or not he could find a way to get some sort of distress beacon off. If he couldn't his only other option would be to hope that someone did live on the planet and that they were friendly. Thel wasn't going to hold his breath for that, though.

* * *

><p>The Arbiter tightly pressed himself into an alcove of a hallway inside the ship as a group of the yellow armored newcomers passed him by. The movement was mostly useless, as he had his active camouflage on and was thus invisible, but it just felt natural to do something in the anticipation of combat.<p>

Thel had long since given up on trying to activate a distress beacon, as he lacked the technical skills to repair anything in the light of the catastrophic crash landing. The ship was dead and silent, and the Arbiter had accepted that. After that he set about discerning what had survived the crash. The simple answer was: not much of anything. Most of the things that he could have made use of were in the part of the ship that was gone. What he did have were only the weapons he had on him and a few random weapons scattered throughout some of the ship. The power was offline and most of the terminals were destroyed, not that he had much use for them anyway. The most valuable thing that had survived was he himself.

Just when he was about to lose hope of their being life on this forsaken planet, he heard the sound of what could only be aircraft of some sort descending from the sky around the ship. He had activated his camouflage and gone outside to investigate, and was immediately confused by what he saw. There was a veritable fleet of aircraft outside, and the crafts themselves were unlike anything he had ever seen, looking like nothing more than glorified flying bricks, adorned with a yellow paint scheme and an insignia for some faction he didn't know. He had at first thought it was some rebel human group until he saw the armored figures coming out of the craft, armed with a plethora of armaments that were new and foreign to him. While some these beings were indeed Human, easy to identify due to a lack of helmet on some, there were some who were...aliens.

Thel had hardly used the word before, as the Covenant had comprised of many different races, but these aliens were of a species he had never encountered before. Or rather, there were at least three different species that he had never encountered before. This was when the Arbiter decided that something was very wrong. The first of the new species seemed to be the most disciplined, even among the Humans. They were taller than most everyone around them, and their skin almost seemed to be made of metal. The second was a lizard looking species that had big, round eyes and two cranial horns on their heads. Curiously their chests also seemed to be caved in, as if they didn't have any ribs. The third and final of the new species was also the most interesting, as they all appeared to simply be blue Human women with head tentacles instead of hair.

The Arbiter filed all of these observations away for later consideration and went back inside the ship. There was at least a hundred of the armed and armored newcomers that had come from the craft, and they were all descending on the ship like flies to a corpse. Thel didn't know if they were hostile or not, but he wasn't about to make first contact with them out in the open and severely outnumbered. That was how he found himself in his current situation, watching as a group of five aliens passed him by. Thel spotted at least on Human and decided to test the friendliness of these people. Once they had gotten a few feet away, Thel slipped out of the alcove, deactivated his camouflage and spoke.

"Who are yo-" he didn't get to finish his question because as soon as he spoke the intruders all turned around and opened fire on him. Idly noticing that these weapons resembled neither UNSC or Covenant weapons in terms of ammunition, Thel activated his energy sword with a _snap-hiss _and lunged forward. The bullets that the intruders kept shooting at him splashed harmlessly against his shields, and the tight hallway insured that they could not get away from him fast enough as he closed the distance instantly.

The first to die was a member of the species that looked like blue Humans. Fortunately for her it was a relatively painless death as he decapitated her in one swing of his sword. The other four intruders looked on in horror as her body slumped to the floor and her head flew through the air, straight into the Human Thel had identified. They began to rout almost immediately after that. Before they could get far the Arbiter stabbed straight through one of the metal aliens, pulled the sword out and bisected another one with a downward slice. The two remaining intruders consisted of one of the lizard people and the Human, both of which were screaming in abject terror as they attempted to flee. Lashing out and grabbing the neck of the lizard from behind and crushing his windpipe, the Arbiter heaved and threw the body at the Human, sending him crashing to the floor while the lizard's body flopped on top of him.

As Thel stalked up to the Human like a predator would his prey, he could hear the Human whimpering. Leaning down he took hold of the Human's neck, albeit with much less force than he did the lizard, and held him up so that Thel could look him in the eye. The Human began outright crying as he clawed fruitlessly at the Arbiters hand.

"No, please don't kill me!" he pleaded between sobs, and the Arbiter sneered in disgust. What a pathetic creature.

"If you want to live, you will tell me who you are." Thel lied, shaking the Human for emphasis. He wasn't particularly fond of executing someone who had been beaten so easily, but the Human had attacked him first, even when he had tried being diplomatic. Any sympathy he might have gleamed from the Arbiter was lost then. But the lie worked, for as the Human now had a small hope for life, he exploded into a rambling mess.

"My name is Michael Sorenson. I was born on Earth, I'm 23 years old, and I-" Thel shook him again, more violently this time, to shut him up.

"No!" he snarled, "Who do you answer to?"

The Human looked at him in confusion, clearly not understanding the question. "Captain...Tasera?" he said hesitantly. Thel rolled his eyes and sighed.

"Are you rebels of the UNSC?" he asked, quickly losing his patience. Unfortunately for him this question only seemed to confuse the Human more, who did his best to shrug while dangling in the Arbiter's grasp.

"No...we're Eclipse...mercenaries. UNSC?" That stifled Thel's anger, if only for a moment, as he searched through his brain for any memory of such a group. Coming up empty, Thel decided that the Human was no longer useful. Impassively he stabbed the Human straight through the stomach, while he gargled and went limp in his hand. Tossing him aside like a used toy, Thel stepped over the bodies of the other mercenaries he killed and went about deciding on his next course of action.

He was stuck in a ruined ship on a desolate planet, and the only other living beings in close proximity were a bunch of Human and alien mercenaries calling themselves the 'Eclipse'. Apparently they hadn't heard of the UNSC either. None of this did anything spectacular for his chances of getting off the planet alive, but Thel did have an idea of how to escape. He was going to have to steal one of the Eclipse's aircraft. It shouldn't prove to be too much of a problem, these mercenaries didn't seem like the most formidable bunch, but he wasn't about to get overconfident about his chances. That might get him killed.

* * *

><p>Long story short, his plan failed miserably. Using his active camouflage he was able to successfully sneak his was outside of the ship and into one of the aircraft that had been idling on the ground. The side door was wide open and he simply sauntered in behind a few mercenaries. That was when everything went wrong.<p>

Before Thel even knew what happened the craft lifted up into the air, kicking up dirt every which way as it took flight. Realizing he had to act quickly the Arbiter activated his energy sword, the familiar hiss alerting everyone in the craft to his presence immediately. Unfortunately for them he cut down every single merc inside the craft before they could even contemplate what was going on. All except for the pilot, who managed to sabotage the controls beyond repair, resulting in the craft plowing straight into a sand dune.

After surviving his second crash landing for the day, Thel emerged from the ruined aircraft to find himself several meters away from the _Forward Unto Dawn. _He also found that all the remaining craft were fleeing from the battlefield and that every single mercenary left in the area was pointing their weapons straight at him. He activated his camouflage and tried to make a mad dash for the UNSC frigate, but every mercenary opened fire on him at once, sending bullets crashing into his shields and lighting him up for all to see. Equipping both his plasma pistol and his plasma rifle, he sprayed bolts of searing hot plasma in every direction, trying to suppress the mercs. Unfortunately there was just too many of them and the unstability of the loose sand, as it shifted under him every time he took a step, meant that his shields would not last for ever.

His armor started beeping incessantly, as if panicking, as his shields failed. The Arbiter was just a few feet away from the ship now, but he didn't know if that was close enough. Suddenly there was pain in his side as two bullets found there ark one right after the other. Thel unconciously clutched at the wound and turned around to fire plasma at anything that moved when he was suddenly smacked straight into the ship without warning. He flew through one of the many ruined hallways for a few feet before landing unceremoniously on his back, trying to make sense of what he saw.

He had indentified what had hit him, some sort of blue, floating ball, but he didn't understand it. It had come out of nowhere and soared right into him, as if locked on, and the force of the impact had thrown him several feet, an impressive accomplishment given the size of the Arbiter. He chest felt a little sore where the ball had hit him, and he was bleeding a little from the bullet wounds he got, but he that the mercenaries would likely advance into the ship now that he had made it back inside. Bolting onto his feet, barely registering the bite of his wounds, he activated his camouflage right after his shields recharged and slinked into a hiding spot, waiting for any mercenaries to fall into his trap. He would have to think of a new plan to get off this planet, as the Eclipse had taken their craft and run, weary of another hijacking attempt. The Arbiter found this admittedly worrisome, as there was no other way he could think of for his getting out of here alive. In the meantime though, he would slaughter any mercenaries who dared stand against him.

* * *

><p>He didn't have to wait long for a new plan to form, though he would have to admit that he mostly just got really lucky. He had spent countless time already fighting the mercenaries, he mused, that it almost seemed like there was never a time when the <em>Forward Unto Dawn <em>didn't have a gunfight happening in it. However, the bullets were almost always aimed at him, which is why he was then surprised to find that there was gunfire going off in parts of the ship nowhere near him. It had happened a few times before, when some untrained mercenary got jumpy and shot at shadows, but in those cases it was always just a short burst. This was different.

It wasn't hard to draw the conclusion that someone else had boarded the ship, and that they were hostile to the Eclipse. Whether that meant they would be hostile to him or not remained in doubt, but it presented him with a knew opportunity. Regardless of if they were friendly or not, these newcomers were only hope of escape. But he wasn't about to let his guard down.

After dispatching a group of Eclipse in the bridge, he finally got to see who the newcomers were, as he hid in the shadows invisible. There was just four of them, which led him to believe that they were much more capable than the lowly Eclipse, and would not falter as easily. Surprise would be key in subduing them, if necessary. There were two aliens, a metal one wearing blue armor and a lizard wearing white and red armor. He still could not understand them as they spoke, which was slightly maddening. He had tried interrogating a few aliens before, but while they seemed to understand him, they could not speak the Human language themselves. In the end it was pointless though, as he had killed them all just the same.

The other two members of the group were Human, which meant that he could understand half of the group's conversation. The younger of the two , who wore black armor with a re stripe going down his right arm, seemed to be their leader as he ordered the group to clear the bridge. The older Human, who wore a beat up set of armor, seemed to have more experience, if the scar that ran across his face and ruined one eye said anything, but still he defered to his younger for leadership. Thel found this curious. But soon enough he found his moment to strike.

"Well shit." the old Human said in relation to something the lizard said, shrugging absently. "At least the bridge is secured, for now." the Human added lamely.

"Were it so easy." Thel said, and snapped into motion.

The metal one was the first to go, falling down onto the floor in a heap as Thel tackled it. Next was the old Human, whom Thel kicked away viciously, sending the Human flying across the bridge. As he turned his attention to the younger one his shields lit up, highlighting his invisible outline, as the Human fired into him at point blank range. Quickly batting the weapon out of the Human's hands he kicked him away as well, and whirled on to the lone lizard. Snatching it in his grasp he grabbed its cranial horn, held its head high and ignited his energy sword. The familiar crackle of the sword brought the rest of the group's attention to him as they focused their weapons on him. He paid it no mind, however, as he wasn't planning on killing the lizard yet, and they wouldn't attack him for fear of him killing their companion.

A deafening silence grew to fill the bridge, as neither side did or said anything. The Arbiter had little time to waste though, so he broke the silence with little regret.

"You do not appear to be with these Eclipse mercenaries, which is the only reason you are not dead." he said, pouring as much authority into the statement as he could. "But I will not hesitate to kill you the next time I strike, should you force me to act." He needed these newcomers to back down, if only to have an even greater advantage should they try to attack him.

For a moment he was worried that his threat would go unanswered, and that this talk was about to collapse into another gunfight. But soon enough the leader among them motioned for everyone to lower their weapons, and Thel relaxed slightly. Perhaps he could get off this ship peacefully after all.

"Now speak, Human. Who are you?" he demanded of their leader, curious as to the indentity of the newcomers.

"I'm Commander Shepard, and these are my squad mates Zaeed Massani, Garrus Vakarian and...Mordin Solus." the Human said after taking a breath to steel himself, gesturing to the older Human, the metal alien and the lizard in his grasp respectfully. The gesture was made somewhat awkwardly when it came to the lizard, as Thel had yet to release it from his grasp. "We came here to investigate your ship, and to help any survivors." the Human added lamely, obviously in an attempt to appease the Arbiter. Thel mulled his options over n his mind and quickly came to the decision that he should at least reveal himself to the newcomers. If they were being truthful he would have to start building a bridge, as it were. Besides he had lost the element of surprise, but he was still confident in his ability to neutralize them if he had to.

Deactivating his camouflage he watched, slightly amused, as the newcomers all stared at him in shock and bewilderment. To be fair, these reactions were not born out of fear, as the Arbiter could tell, but merely out of surprise. Clearly they had never seen a Sangheili before, which did not bode well for his present situation. But he would have to overcome one obstacle at a time, starting with this one.

"I am called the Arbiter, and this is not my ship."

Thel then deactivated his sword and released the lizard. Surprisingly he looked the least relieved out of the four, as he casually walked away from the Arbiter and took a position next to the Human called Shepard, looking no worse for wear. The Commander soon recovered from his shock and furrowed his brow. A glance at the other Human, Zaeed, and the alien called Garrus told Thel that they were both equally confused, and while the alien called Mordin looked only mildly curious, the Arbiter decided that perhaps he should clarify.

"This ship is the property of the UNSC. I merely...sought passage."

Clearly this did nothing to help the group understand, as they all looked even more confused than before. They glanced between each other warily, probably trying to decide if they should trust anything the Arbiter was saying. Eventually the Commander just shrugged and holstered his weapon, the others soon following suit. Similarly the Arbiter reattatched the hilt of his energy sword to his belt, and the newcomers seemed to collectively relax.

"What is the, uh...UNSC." the Commander asked and inadvertantly confirmed a suspicion Thel had had for a long time. He knew there would be no easy way to skirt around the issue, but he decided that now was not the time to dwell on it. They had other issues to solve.

"I will have to explain that later, then, but now is not the time. The ship will no doubt be swarming with mercenaries soon enough, and I do not wish to remain here any longer."

The one called Shepard furrowed his brow at that, as if he wanted to argue, but he apparently decided against it and simply nodded his head. Before anyone could do anything else, however, an orange, glowing apparatus sprang to life over the Commander's arm, something the interrogated mercs had called an "Omni-tool". The Arbiter noticed the look of concern on the Human's face as he brought his hand up to his ear. "Alright, thanks for the warning, Joker. We're on our way out now." he said after a few moments of silence. He then turned to the Arbiter, saying, "My pilot just informed me of Eclipse reinforcements landing around the crash site. I meant what I said about helping the survivors of the crash, so you're welcome to come with us. But we need to go. Now."

Thel silently equipped his plasma rifle in his left hand and the hilt of his sword in his right. With a resounding _snap _the sword came to life menacingly in his hand, but it was clear that he meant Shepard and his companions no harm. Underneath his armor his muscles rippled slightly in preparation for the fight ahead, and he gave Shepard a curt nod. A silent agreement was formed in that instant; the Arbiter would follow the Human's lead for now, just until they made it off the ship. Then they would have a lengthy conversation that would hopefully be enlightening.

"I am ready." Thel said simply, and the four newcomers readied their own weapons as they made to leave the bridge. They had just one last hurdle to cross before they could all get some answers.

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN: I know not a lot really happened, but worry not. There will be lots of action in the next chapter. Also, sorry for the long wait, but certain circumstances made updating, not impossible, but...difficult. Regardless, no matter how long it takes between updates, I will finish this. Anyway, please tell me what you think. Thank you.**_


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